improve the s.a.t. nerdy natalie has the answers. >> insert a section of 80s theme song trivia. and michael said extra points if you can if you can announce the name of oscar performers. >> you could put a john travolta section on there. >> these are borrowed glasses although you did pretty well on the s.a.t. >> i did pretty well. >> that is it for "way too early."" "morning joe" starts now. thanks, gang. >> if the fda will propose larger boulder type for calories and for the first time consumers would know if foods had added sugars. >> calories are going to be really prominent. at a glance you can see the calories big and bold. >> nice try but the labels are not big and bold for americans to read through their eye fat. food labels only need to tell me three things, sweet or spicy,

soft or crunchy, and which hole do i stick it! good morning. it is thursday, march 6th. welcome to "morning joe," everybody. time to wake up! >> don't wake up! >> helping us do that just roll over and take a look at donny deutsche. here he is. >> wow. roll over? >> think of that waking you up every morning! because that is his dream. >> by the way, you're talking to a big audience out there. it's not my dream to roll over with everybody. >> i'm not sure about that, donny, but okay. >> so there are standards? suddenly? >> the bar is low. >> i'm sorry. >> but i can say this, mika. >> yes. >> next time donny boich has that special woman that he wants to go out and impress. >> what is it? >> what you got? >> well, i got a note from dave

george who is the president of olive garden. >> oh, my gosh! >> the o.g., you know? we talked mika has never been to olive garden. i have grown up on olive garden. joe, i thought you would like to take mika to her first olive garden experience. >> they will give me a tour of italy? >> no, they have basically everything on one plate and i eat it. there is a great place. maybe, you know, you could -- >> how much is it for? >> to the mill creek mall? >> $200? >> you can go times square. we were out in secaucus olive garden. >> talk about a lot! >> i think this is great, though. we all need to go. >> sounds like you want to go

with donny. >> are you gifting it to me or not? you can't tease me with that! >> yeah. >> i will give you the gift card. we are all going. >> olive garden awaits. >> we are all going to go. >> i think i just got turned down. also with us -- >> we are all family at olive garden. >> i'm excited. tour of italy. msnbc political analyst and visiting professor at nyu, harold ford jr. are you getting any sleep with that beautiful new baby? >> a little bit. my wife is suffering even more. >> you can go to olive garden with us. >> in washington, editorial of "the national journal" ron fournay. >> thank you. >> how is willie? >> slow news day. >> what is that?

>> something about a dog tattoo? a guy gave his dog a tattoo in brooklyn. >> i love that sister margaret had this quote saying two prisoners look up beyond bars and once a monkey and one is a star. isn't it true how we look at life? sister margaret is always right, right, right. "daily news." look at that headline. "mayor stole our dreams." donny said you're looking at the wrong helen. duke's porn star paying for college. >> all seriousness. >> no, no, no. >> if that is what she is doing, that is her choice. i'm serious. today, republicans kick off their annual c-pac meeting and the list of speakers is like a who is who.

>> the who's who includes senator ted cruz kicking it off at 9:00 followed by paul ryan and christie. a new "the washington post"/abc news poll shows republicans may have a steep climb to unseed hillary clinton as the favorite in 2016. when asked about voting for each candidate, hillary clinton was, by far, the most favored with 66% saying they would rather definitely vote or consider voting for her. beyond hillary, it's anybody's game with marco rubio, rand paul and chris christie getting similar results. on the low end of the poll 50% of americans said they would definitely not vote for jeb bush but it's breaking down among only republican voters. jeb bush has the most support with a combined 76% saying they would definitely vote or consider voting for him. chris christie has the highest

negatives with 30% of all republicans saying they definitely would not vote for him. now it seems jeb's bush barbara might be warming up to another bush in the white house. >> i think somebody has talked to her. >> i think they have had some family meetings. in an interview in her home in houston, the former first lady said maybe it's okay, if he decides to run in 2016. >> it it seemed to me ridiculous in a country this size we didn't have other families. we got great governors and other people. i just don't understand it. and maybe jeb has given all he should give, because he has worked awfully hard for a long time but he is the best qualified person in the country, there is no question about that. >> that's great. she is tough. willie, you say not much of a ballots? >> we sold it a big 180. the whole sound bite was her saying why it shouldn't happen. >> very well qualified then.

>> is it nice to do 180s? >> no. >> why should she? she is amazing. we have a lot to get to. did you see the fireworks on capitol hill yesterday? we will get to that. what happened? first, democrats are rolling out -- what is that? >> a little bit of a breakdown. >> a massive breakdown. we will get to that. democrats are rolling out a major campaign push to link republican candidates to the koch brothers. >> this is all they have? wow. >> not a stupid move. >> it is an idiotic move. n not stupid, but idiotic. >> before the fireworks on capitol hill we will have fireworks on the set, i believe. "the new york times" reports online ads aim to paint the billionaire brothers as villains and the candidates as com police sit in costing american workers their job. the slogan gop is addicted to

koch. harry reid said the brothers were, quote, against everything that is good for america and accusing them of trying to buy the country. >> let's just stop right there. let's just stop there. >> there is some balance here. >> do that. >> democrats have their own big spenders including billionaire tom styer who is planning to spend as much as a hundred million on governors and lawmakers. david koch has contributed $1 billion since 2000 on cancer research, education initiatives and cultural institutions. >> wait, wait, wait. so just leaving politics aside, willie, when harry reid calls david koch un-american because he is doing what democrats like george storeos have done for

years, it's fine. it's overlooking what he has done for this city for cancer research, for the arts. could you tell people that don't just live and breathe politics what this quote un-american man has done in new york city alone? >> we are talking about two separate things. politics and what they do in their lives but they give more money than anybody. you go around the city and you see koch's on billboards. >> the art that the city has. >> a counterpoint to that? >> they have been called un-american. un-american by the top democrat? let's, first, tell the truth about them and what they do and put perspective in it. if we are talking about how much money the koch brothers give, these, quote, villains, it's unbelievable what they have done for cancer research, what they have done for the arts, what they have done for education.

>> i'm not here to defend the koch brothers but i would say for the senate majority leader of the united states say the republicans are addicted to koch seems a little beneath the office. >> and also to say the koch brothers are against everything that is good with -- about america and calling them, quote, un-american? that, by definition, is mccarthy-ism. to say they are un-american. >> it was out of line. i agree with willie. there's no need for that kind of talk. i take it all -- republicans say all of those things about democrats and the koch brothers, i don't share their political agenda. >> exactly. >> but, at the same time, they have every right to spend their money as they choose and i have every right to try to counter with that what i believe are positive, strong, political message and -- >> donny? >> to call them un-american is incorrect. i'm not making any personal judgments on them.

there are philanthropic people and that is wonderful. what i'm saying is strategically in a divided country, have and have not's to have a slogan to somehow -- once again, this is not to say the democrats don't do that -- but there is this big money, this wealth, gop addictiveness is driving elections is not a bad strategic move. >> you do understand. >> i'm separating -- i'm not saying -- >> and in 2008 and in 2012, barack obama. >> correct. >> received more big money from wall street than any candidate in the history of american politics. you understand that it's a misleading ad campaign and call them un-american is despicable. >> i am not saying -- >> to say that americans are addicted to koch is despicable. you understand this is a misleading ad that came from the democratic party that received more big money from wall street in the history of any political

party in american politics than barack obama. >> it is not to say they are -- to suggest that to a populace is to say -- >> i just don't like the language. that's fine. >> harold, let's talk about what the koch brothers are talking about right now. it's obamacare. so when harry reid says -- it's un-american and this, that, the other, actually, the majority of americans are with the koch brothers on this issue that they are driving home in 2014. the majority of americans agree with charles and david koch on the issue of their ads. >> look. >> on obamacare. they like the koch brothers and not obamacare. they are un-american for being with the majority of americans? >> the president, obviously, is not in line with the koch brothers on this but announcement this morning they are are allowing insurance

companies to provide you the insurance coverage you enjoy today through -- i'm not saying the president agrees with the koch brothers but they have a right to say what they want. i don't like the name calling and to willie's point, it seems beneath politics and beneath the office to refer to two americans as un-american. >> answer this question. is the koch brothers spending a billion dollars on political advertising in the last 15 years good for democracy? >> let's ask ron fournier. >> is it for democracy? >> i'll ask ron. let's bring in ron. i remember bob kerry saying in 2008 that any democrat that ever talked about campaign finance reform again while wallowing in the mountains of cash that barack obama was receiving from wall street. >> that's not answering the

question. >> and big industry. bob kerry said they would forever be hypocrites because they never called it out. both sides do this, ron, don't they? they do it equally but democrats do it better than republicans and now they are whining about the koch brothers. >> we agree it's both sides are hypocritical and it's un-american to call somebody un-american. let's talk about the real issue here. is it un-american or is it unethical, is it wrong, is it corrupting to have all of this money in politics? >> yes. >> i don't know. well, you know? i don't know. it's a subtle issue. supreme court has now said that money is free speech. it's a pretty subtle issue whether you agree or not. if this money is going to be there, i don't have a problem as much with the money as the fact it's not transparent that i don't know who is buying which elections and for what reasons. so i've started a move from the mccain/feingold campaign finance paradigm to maybe we should get to the idea, okay, if you want to be the senator of tobacco,

fine. as soon as you get the check, it immediately gets posted on the internet. >> i agree, ron. i agree with you, ron, a thousand percent. i think everybody, liberals, moderates, conservatives, radicals alike should give all the money they want to gi but, ron, i agree with you. make it transparent the second that liberal billionaire gives a hundred million dollars even to one senate candidate, hand the liberal the check but immediately scan it, put it on the internet for all of us to see. >> online. >> so follow up on that, ron, and then let's talk really quickly because a lot to get to today and talk kim about another wave on obamacare. go ahead. >> i think this just generation coming up, the millennials i think the kind of ethic they would be for and the polls kind of show it too. i'm not a millennial, obviously,

but they say we want to use the powers and the new tools we have to be more involved in our politics so why not be able to see where this money is coming from and it can be done immediately. >> how you can tell ron is not a millennial. look at him closely. >> start with the bald hair and the gray hair. >> look at all of the books he reads! this is the ron fournier bathroom screen. >> do you think the books give away the fact i'm not a millennial? >> yes. just say yes, ron. >> quickly. 15, 20 seconds. >> it's not going to be 15, 20 seconds. >> i'm counting. >> yet another obamacare waiver. ron, tell us about it. >> i'm starting to wonder why the republicans are wasting so much time trying to dismantle obamacare. maybe the white house will do it for them. >> okay. there is your 20 seconds.

>> there you go, mika. >> well, really. if you are going to implement this thing get it done and do it right. let's quit undermining the people's faith in a bill they were shaky about anyhow. >> we will get it done and do it right and we won't worry about the republicans who literally want to kill it, repeal it, and try repeatedly to beat it down and run ads with lies about it and get it done and do it right because we are all working together so well on this. on this law of the land. >> i wore about it. as you know, i have two grown daughters who are already taking advantage of it but a lot of other americans would like to take advantage of it and they can't if the administration doesn't get its act together and get it implemented. you're right. the other side is acting deplorably but i'm tired of politic we set ourselves up as the party not quite as bad as the other one. democrats have get this done. not just for this bill, but for the whole ethic of government can help you.

>> so, mika, if you go to the front of buzzfeed today, the front page of buzzfeed you'll see 12 people in bed. it says 12 horrible places to fight with your significant other. i haven't opened this just but it's pure buzzfeed, these lists. i'm sure number 11 and 12 would be in darrell issa's committee. >> i thought where are we going with this? >> this is kind of an interesting story because a little kerfuffle happened on capitol hill. >> you don't hear that enough. >> i just had a kerfuffle with phil griffin. >> he had a kerfuffle with you about the show yesterday. >> you should be careful with that word. yesterday, many americans were given a fresh reminder why they are fed up with washington politics. during yet another hearing, on the irs targeting of

conservative and tea party groups, they are still having hearings about this? can you imagine? chairman of the house oversight committee darrell issa grilled lois lerner for 11 straight minutes. >> she is the one who -- >> she is still back there getting grilled. >> she wasn't fired by obama like chris christie. >> that is the allegation now. >> for each question asked, lerner pleaded the fifth. refusing to unraveled. >> i have no expectation that miss lerner will cooperate with this committee and therefore i move to adjourn. >> i have a procedural question, mr. chairman. you cannot run a committee like this, mr. chairman, you just cannot do this. we are better than that as a country. we are better than that as a committee. may i ask my question?

may i state my statement? >> you're all free to leave. we are adjourned but the jamais ask his question. >> thank you very much. mr. chairman, i have one procedural question and it goes to trying to help you get the information by the way that you just asked. >> what is your question? >> no. let me say what i have to say. i've listened to you for the last 15 or 20 minutes. let me say what i have to say. >> miss lerner, you are relieved. >> first, i would like to use my time to make some great points. for the past year, the central republican accusation in this investigation -- >> we are adjourned. close it down. >> directed by one -- the white house. before our -- single document. >> thank you ask your question. >> if you will sit down and allow me to ask a question! i am a member of the congress of the united states of america! i am tired of this! i do have a question. >> with that, issa ended the

hearing walking outline while congressman cummings continued to talk into a silent mike. reporters caught up with issa after the hearing who offered this explanation. >> mr. chairman -- >> why would you say shut it down? >> because he was talking into a mike in an adjourned meeting. the fact is mr. cummings came to make a point of his objections to the process we have been going through. he was actually slandering at the moment that the mikes did go off by claiming that this had not been a real investigation. >> after she had established she was tag the fifth, you still asked several questions, yet you did not give your democratic colleague that same opportunity. >> he was not intending to ask her any questions and it had been determined. >> right. he didn't have the chance to ask any questions. >> mr. cummings said he had questions to ask. instead, he began making an opening statement. even after the committee had been adjourned. there are the committee stands to adjourn.

>> ew. donny? >> i mean, you know, that is a big black eye for darrell issa to basically go off procedural things and he buried the lead and the whole thing about the irs gets lost in the republicans one more time like a party of no. to me it was a pathetic display on issa's part. >> you wonder why people hate congress. harry reid making koch puns and the oversight committee shutting down a respectable colleague who simply wanted to ask a question. >> in the sick of this process. >> i think it's a great point. you're right. while harry reid is going around calling guys that give billions and billions of dollars to hospitals and institute, art institutions, he is sitting there with, what? an 8%, 9% approval rating in congress? for good reason.

ron fournier, what would you guess is the number one place that buzzfeed says is the worst place to get into a fight with your significant other, other than darrell issa? >> "morning joe." >> no place to cool down and now 50 other people know your business. >> you know where you can make things right? >> at the olive garden. t.j., why can you make things right at the olive garden? >> we are all family. >> because we are family. we are family. >> we are. so let's all go. >> why don't we go right now. >> in fact, i have a better idea. we are going to do something with the olive garden in the "morning joe" newsroom. >> we do. >> sounds so healthy. >> right across there do salad garden buffet. >> first, i have the kids coming in. are they coming? >> we work on it tomorrow. >> we are going to have such

fabulous children in here performing. just wait! you all will be so surprised. efficient corner of this newsroom you'll see children doing math and playing violin and doing all of the things that they do. at the top of their game in this city. really. breaking all of the records. >> not in the city. in the state. >> in the state! yes! >> the number one class of fifth grarneds in new york state at these charters schools. they are public schools. >> thursday or friday? >> i think it's tomorrow. >> today's thursday, so it would have to be tomorrow. >> somebody has a baby in the house! >> there's so many great locations. i just don't know if they are enough for all of the talented children. >> first of all, they are math wh whizes so i'll get a white board. then there are other talents. they are going to come in and show their -- but there's so

many that i don't know if we are going to be able to accommodate them all. oh, we have the catwalk. it will be great. coming up on "morning joe," congressman elijah cummings joins us. bill kristol and book falling in love with american again, former senator jim demint. and james patterson and interview with mick jagger! >> who gets the big one? >> who gets this one, man? >> i saw him in an elevator once at the carlisle. >> you didn't dunk on him, did you? >> wait. what? you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. [ male announcer ] what if a small company became big business overnight? ♪ like, really big... then expanded? ♪

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time now to take a look at the morning papers. "usa today" the oscar pistorious murder trial in its fourth day as prosecutors start to question the olympian's character. a boxer who is friends with pistorious described an incident at a restaurant where he allegedly fired a gun by accident. >> i don't know what happened, how the gun went off, but he did apologize and say, i'm so sorry, it was a mistake. are you okay? is everybody okay? i do remember oscar saying, please to darren, i don't want any tension around me. just say it was you. and then once that was said, the people from the restaurant came to the table and that's when darren said it was him. >> the defense says the friend offered to take responsibility and pistorious was not aware that the gun had bullets in it. from our parade of papers. "daytona beach news journal." a dramatic rescue in daytona beach after a pregnant woman

drove her minivan into the ocean with her three kids inside. witnesses rushed into the water on tuesday to save the children who range from 3 to 10 years old. one of the kids reportedly said, their mom was trying to kill them. the woman's sister called 911 before the incident amid fear that something was wrong but cops said there was no cause to detain her. the children are in state custody. >> so sad. the minneapolis star tribune. one of the largest coal producers in the country will pay $27.5 million in fines for violating water pollution permits in five states. alpha natural resources spend $12 million to prevent future toxic spills into the waterways. the largest water pollution fine ever imposed on a company. from "the boston globe."

facebook plans to crack down on gun-related posts and prevent minors from viewing postings of gun sales and remove posts that have a background check. >> my husband broke that story yesterday. >> did he? >> yep. >> did he really? >> yes, he did. yes, he did. "wall street journal" former new york city police commissioner ray kelly has a new gig. the long time cop is moving to the private sector to advise commercial real estate firms on how to protect their interests from terrorism and crime. it's a huge job. he is hired by the company cushman & wakefield to guide them into protecting their buildings and data. that company is setting up a whole risk management division that kelly is going to be heading up. since leaving the nypd kelly has joined the council on foreign relations and delivered speeches across the country but this is a big job at a really, really

powerful company. >> no doubt about it. "the san francisco chronicle." a second baby born with an aids virus appeared to be cured. the child born in california had her infection put into remission following a drug treatment four hours after she was born. doctors are cautious to say she is 100% cured because she remains on aids medication but a similar case announced a year ago in mississippi and that child also remains aids-free. the "los angeles times." the world health organization says only 5% of a person's daily calories should come from sugar. you have to really look into this as it pertains to you. that is 25 grams or about six pea teaspoons a lot. by comparison a single can of coke has 36 grams of sugar. >> let me check that out. >> no. >> what do you give up?

>> think about that. >> some people said i should give up sugar for -- >> you just had your day right there. now you can't have any more sugar which means you can't eat any more food because most of the food you eat when you buy in stores has sugar in it. the food we eat are laced with poison. you should give up coke. >> i thought about giving up sugar but then i decided, no, i'm going to give up heroin instead. can i have some more of that? >> no. >> you think sugar is bad for you? >> i do. >> boy, i heard that heroin can really get you. willie, what is going on? >> how is the coca-cola over there? >> it tastes great. >> talk about un-american! >> dear lord. >> tell me about the s.a.t.s. >> an angel had his wings clips. you just don't do that, man. >> great american company. >> they are a great atlanta company. >> a great company, by the way,

if you look at what they are doing, they are really working to try and create products that are better for you because they are aware too of what we have learned. it's not like coke thought, oh, we are going to ingest the country on sugar. they have been making this for decade. >> let's just leave it there. they are great americans, aren't they? >> i would like to come on and talk about their initiatives. they are fantastic. >> we are talking about un-american charges, willie? >> yes. >> it seems to me there is one institution you can level that charge against and actually, kind of be, you know? within the like -- >> what are you talking about? >> what? >> just what? >> politico. they are un-american. >> it's taking a long time. >> in this case, the glove fits. you're right here. >> it takes like 80 years. we are talking, of course, about politico. the president and ceo there of politico also of capital new york, mr. jim vandehei. how do you answer to these charges of un-american in

politico? >> nothing more american than politico. you know that. >> jim vandehei, thank you. >> that's talk a little bit about c-pac gets off this morning and big speakers including new jersey governor chris christie. everyone remembers he was snubbed and not invited last year. is this him sort of reemerging after the scandal the last couple of months? >> i think two to watch. ted cruz and chris christie in particular. for chris christie, one, he couldn't go to c-pac last time. they didn't want to hear from him. this time can conservatives get fired up about chris christie. he has gone through run of the roughest periods in politics the past couple of months and questions whether he can rebound for this and rebound he has to find some support among conservatives. i think conservatives are more sympathetic to him now than before because the media has turned on chris christie. i think for chris christie he doesn't have as much leeway to take on conservatives in a conservative filled auditorium. my guess he'll go hard and talk about his areas where he is

really conservative. he'll talk about other governors who are having success with schi conservatism. the other one to watch is ted cruz. it straw poll doesn't matter who is going to win the presidency and gives you a jolt of momentum. ted cruz is the fan favorite. the conservatives love the guy. and i think if you had to bet who is going to win that straw poll it's him, not rand paul who won it last time around. it's going to continue to give momentum to the ted cruz wing of the republican party which a lot of people think is not electable in a jen election setting but very popular in a primary setting. >> play a quick game, quick answer. look at the list of speakers today starting this morning. which of those is most likely the republican nominee for president in 2016? cruz, ryan, christie, jindal and rubio. >> i think of that group maybe paul ryan or a rubio. i think at the end of the day republicans have to find someone who is conservative enough to

satisfy the base but that is electable enough on a broad scale and has to be somebody who wants it. i think there are questions whether rubio or ryan want it and whether somebody from washington can win the nomination but if you work from the assumption that jeb bush probably doesn't run and i work from the assumption he won't run, i think there on that part of the spectrum would give republicans the best chance of winning is somebody who could satisfy the right. i say that with a calf yet i i think you got to keep an eye on the governors. i think off-year elections will be successful for republicans. if you look at the polling, independents, conservatives, very fired up about this election, leaning republican, despite their dissatisfaction with some of the republican theology. that's a good place for republicans to be. >> donny deutch points out, i left donald trump off the list. >> definitely the donald. >> jim vandehei, thanks. coming up, my conversation with mick jagger who brings the godfather of soul to the big screen. how about this?

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♪ >> lifelong stones fan. i grew up with their songs playing at my house. this is my guy. >> this is mccartney for me. jagger for you. >> that's right. mick jagger is a producer on this film about james brown and doing a biopick. so i got to go down and visit the set in jackson, mississippi, where they are shotinoting. the movie is called "get on up." >> reporter: the hardest working man in show business. on-stage tornado of singing and dancing and sexual energy. so who better to bring james brown's life and legacy to the big screen than a spirit? how far do you go with james brown? do you remember when you first met the man? >> yeah, i think 1964 in new york. i went to see him doing a show.

he treated me like very -- like i was kind of just new on the block, which isn't what i was. >> reporter: right. did you borrow any of his dance moves? you're up here a little bit and he is down on the floor. >> i used to do in the '60s i used to do some of his moves. >> reporter: although jagger and brown were not close friends, the rolling stones front man was an early fan. some time after brown's death in 2006, jagger helped to resurrect ab abandoned hollywood plan to tell the godfather story. he reached out to academy award producer brian grazer. >> i get an incoming call from literally outer space from probably the most famous and talented human being on the planet, mick jagger. >> brian grazer! >> the clouds parted. >> yeah. then the voice of mick jagger

came through and said, "i've got the rights to the music. let's do a film." is that the way it happened? >> if brian says so, it must be so. >> reporter: grazer and jagger brought on director tate taylor, a lifelong james brown fan, who directed the acclaim film "the help." >> my goal. you can hear it hear first. i want you standing in front of your seat in a theater dancing. >> reporter: the job of getting those people dancing in the theaters falls to actor chad mcboseman who also played jackie robinson. >> james brown is like a super hero. he could do anything. he could say anything. >> reporter: boseman takes on the ambitious role of james brown without any prior training in singing or dancing. you picked an anterior in chadwick boseman who by all accounts is doing an incredible james brown. >> i just forget i'm directing. i'm mesmerized by him all of us

like that every single day. >> fluid, super, aggressive mover so to learn to do that is quite an achievement. >> reporter: tell me about the split. the james brown split. a little different from another split. you got to nail it! >> you got to come back up then. >> reporter: have you perfected it? >> i haven't got stuck down there. >> reporter: he told me he had to learn not only to jump into a split, but morne importantly, gt out of the trick. >> that is the real trick. >> reporter: a young mick jagger appears in the film just as the real thing leads the rolling stones back on the road once again. we are about here 20-year-old mick jagger and now we are 70-year-old mick jagger set to go back out on tour. >> i've been practicing doing my moves in the gym and everything! >> wow! >> they are playing in tokyo tonight. i thought we would get on your jet, donny, and see them.

great talking about mick jagger but chadwick boseman, he will blow people away. he has the voice. >> no training before? >> no training at all. he learned to do the moves two days before his audition. nailed it. >> james brown. >> that was cool, willie. >> hard to find somebody more difficult to emulate on stage. >> the whole movie hangs on that performance and he is doing it. >> congratulations! you and mick, baby! >> i can't believe i'm sitting here listening to this. >> it's a big one. >> we will be right back with more "morning joe." ♪ brown sugar

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who study hard and want to serve our country, they might as well dream on. no, nothing won't do. call house republicans today. tell them we've waited long enough: pass immigration reform. recent comments by pope francis about the church's

priest sex abuse scandal has some catholics outraged. anne thompson reports on this story. >> reporter: pope francis opened the season hurting the faithful to resist a godless culture. but it's unapologetic defense how the church is dealing with the sex abuse crisis. the pope said the catholic church is possibly the only institution that acted with transparency and responsibility. nobody else did more. still the catholic church was the only one to come under fire. abuse survivors blasted his words as disingenuous. >> it's heart breaking for us as victims to see the true colors of pope francis and it seems to be that he wants the same reckless and private ways of

coping to continue. >> reporter: francis strong words surprised some as this is a pope who a has captured the world's attention with a simple message of mercy making this humble man a global star and now a magazine devoted solely to him. says to paint the pope as some sort of superman, a star, is offensive. the basic teachings of the catholic church are not up for review. on birth control, banned bit church but used by many catholics, the pope said, it's not a question of changing the doctrine with you going deeper so pastoral concern takes into account what can be done for people. he reiterated the church's support of traditional marriage but appeared to open the door on civil unions saying, we need to look at different cases and evaluate them. a pope trying to take a new approach to the issues dividing many catholics.

>> he is shaking things up. >> yes, he is. finds 85% of catholics have a favorable view on the new pope the highest hark for a pope since john paul, ii. 26% say they are more excited about their faith. >> i think that is great. if you're talking about 1 in 4 catholics saying they are more excited about their faith, you know what? that's how movements begin and how they start and i think it's really positive. >> my daughter and i went to get ashes yesterday. i was talking anecdotally to fellow catholics and they are excited and excited about this pope. they love him. >> great news for the church. bill kristol will join the

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coming up at the top of the hour, we will speak to congressman elijah cummings on yesterday's explosive hearings on the irs scandal and the house of representatives. then he is being called a shadow speaker who is pulling the strings in washington. former senator jim demint will be our guest. all that and much more on

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♪ take chevron. recently after causing a fatal gas explosion in bobtown, pennsylvania, they did the right thing. >> chevron is trying to make amends for the deadly gas fire that took a week to get out. they handed out coupons. >> the coupon is for a large pizza and two-liter drink from a

local pizza shop. >> free pizza! of course, that is for a a gas well fire. if the chemicals in your drink cause you crazy, you get crazy bread. >> joining the table we have a father at the teacher of a school. that makes him even though he has wayward views. and he needs evolve a little bit ideologically makes him a big man. >> is there something better than -- >> no. >> this is where you and i come together, bill.

>> we have been saying in northwest florida, okay, the grass is down there where the goats can eat it for a reason, all right? you guys don't have your private conversations. let us all in on it. >> listen. >> what are you talking about? >> her daughter -- >> no, nothing about my daughter. >> her daughter teaches at a high school in virginia and is a teacher and we are proud of her and mika appreciates her and joe doesn't because joe is a heartless guy. >> conservative. >> he just wants to talk about obamacare. >> the koch brothers. i love them. >> guys, we are going to be going to "today" show. we are going to andrea mitchell's report. joe, you're going to do an interview with "today." first, let's start with the developments in ukraine and andrea mitchell. >> good morning to you. >> good morning, savannah. at this hour, as tensions are rising as you report, the pentagon is sending that destroyer toward the black sea, in addition to two f-15 fighter jets that were mobilized yesterday in the baltics to support nato operation in the region as secretary kerry arrived in rome today expecting

to face off with russian's foreign minister over the crisis. >> reporter: ukraine crisis now in its sixth day with no end in sight. secretary of state john kerry in rome today, after failing to make progress with russia's foreign minister during crisis meetings in paris on wednesday. after those meetings the russian foreign ministry tweeted a photo showing the two looking in opposite directions. the apparent message? they don't see eye-to-eye but they need to keep talking. >> we agreed to continue intense discussions in the coming days with russia, with the ukraini s ukrainians. >> kerry brought ukraine's foreign minister he brought to paris. a dramatic confrontation in crimea. u.n. envoy cornered by gun nen and forced to call for help from

a cafe? he had tried and failed to enter crimea last week and forced out wednesday. his mission still not accomplished. while some in congress want to know why u.s. intelligence didn't pick up on russia's move sooner. >> it was not predicted by our intelligence which is another massive failure because of our misreading, total misreading of the intentions of the vladimir putin. >> reporter: hillary clinton offered her own blunt assessment of putin on wednesday. >> i know we are dealing with a tough guy with a thin skin. >> reporter: while trying to clarify remarks she made tuesday comparing putin's moves to hitler and the nazis before world war ii. >> the claims by president putin and other russians that they had to go into crimea and maybe further into eastern ukraine because they had to protect the russian minorities, and that is

reminiscent of claims made in the 1930s. >> reporter: causing more concern today plans by officials in crimea to schedule a vote a referendum in ten days on whether to separate from the rest of ukraine and be a part of russia. >> a lot of things going on this morning. andrew, thank you. >> former republican congressman joe scarborough is the host of msnbc "morning joe." good morning to you, joe. >> good morning, matt. >> six days into the crisis now. the rhetoric seems to be heating up not between russia and the united states but the republicans and congress. you heard john mccain saying it was a massive intelligence failure and misreading of intentions. what we are seeing ukraine right now is result of failed policies in syria and benghazi. do you agree with those assessmen assessments? >> no, absolutely not. the fact is everybody is debating right now in congress who lost ukraine. barack obama didn't lose ukraine any more than george w. bush lost georgia in 2008, any more

than ike lost hungary in 195637 the fact is bob gates, the former secretary of state of defense for obama and bush, putin was holding all of the cards. as far as intel goes, the cia can't go inside a detached man's mind like vladimir putin who is detached from reality and decide what this guy is going to do in the weeks or months to come. >> then why are we seeing what we are seeing? if this reminds us a little bit of the cold war, joe, back during the cold war, there was a theory, maybe even unwritten rule that politics ended at the water's edge. >> right. >> why is that no longer the case? >> well, unfortunately, washington has changed. there is a reason why congress has a 13% is approval rating and a reason why republicans are upset when george w. bush went to russia and had an important meeting with vladimir putin that harry reid called george w. bush while on russian soil a liar and a loser. americans don't like that. they don't like it coming from

democrats talking about republican presidents and don't like lindsey graham sweet tweeting out couple of months that cut the commander in chief. america's chief. this is not only the only right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do. there will be time to debate this in the campaign in the fall. now is not the time to do it. >> let me ask you about vladimir putin. he's been a little bit erratic during this entire situation. on the one hand, he says, by the way, those aren't even russian troops in the crimea region. on the other hand, he says those troops are there because of an illegal coup in kiev. with his denials, how does the united states deal with him? >> it is harder to deal with a man who is worth $40 billion, that is running a totalian regime. one thing they have noticed his last press conference was so

detached from reality it was almost like a baghdad bob display. this is man who surrounded himself with those men and it makes it harder for kerry to do what he is trying to do in paris and where we need to focus right now. bill kristol brought this up the other day. ukraine entered into an agreement with civilized nations across the globe to give up your nuclear weapons in exchange for the civilized world protecting thm and protecting their borders. the world can't turn a blind eye to this right now. they can compromise on this. they have to show the rest of the world that if you enter into an agreement where you're giving up your nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction we are not going to forget about that five or ten years ago from now. that is what we need to focus on and focus how we get germany, how we get france and how we get england and how we get china and other civilized nations to actually make sure that the agreement we entered into as a

civilized world sticks in 2014. >> joe scarborough, host of "morning joe," thanks. i appreciate your perspective, joe. >> i appreciate your perspective and your beard. >> that's good to know. >> wasn't it february? when are you going to shave that thing? >> spring is just around the corner. thanks. >> matt is support on that, joe. thank you. >> bill, that is the end of the day, forget all of the tweets and all of the skirmishes. as a country that is interested in stability across the globe, we have got to make sure that what we guaranteed ukraine sticks. >> generally, you don't want dictators to get away with invading neighboring countries. >> that's a bad thing. >> and you want to not just make them withdraw but actually make them pay a price. so i agree. i think this is what the administration hopefully, is doing and pushing. we can and should. it's perfectly legitimate to

criticize past statements and decisions of the administration, it's perfectly legitimate to say the red line wasn't enforced in syria is something to do with emboldening putin the whole politics stopped at the water's edge during the cold war? ask your dad. he was never criticized in the late '70s when he was president carter's security adviser. >> there is one thing to criticizes and we talked about it a couple of days about how some of the things that barack obama did in syria, iran and george w. bush did in iran emboldening the leaders there. another thing to say the chief is feckless or harry reid to say george w. bush is a liar and a loser. >> tweeting is probably not the best way to do that. >> silly. >> cpac is happening today in washington. >> i'm going to get there. >> marco rubio will give a speech i think to address foreign policy and be critical. president obama as you should

expect but lay out a forward position for republicans and conservatives. >> that's what you and i have saying which is go ahead. offer the critique but then offer the alternative vision. >> it will be interesting to see how rubio receives it. i think he'll give unapologetic and reagan and bush. >> you think it's a big day for him? >> it's not isolation or rand paul. yes, i think a big day for rubio. he was hurt. i think in betwe2013. he has given eloquent speeches the past few weeks. i think he helped shape the republican response there. he has talked about the defense budget being cut too much. it's interesting. the political consultants in washington stay away from foreign policy, it's unpopular in america, the public doesn't care about it. it would be ironic but i think it might happen that republicans agree on most issues. could show leadership the next

year or two. >> interesting. while we're talking about politicians in washington, did you see what happened yesterday on capitol hill? >> i saw clips of that, yeah. >> we have elijah coming up here. >> wwf. >> it was exciting stuff. >> two minds about it. then again let's let you be the judge. many americans were given a refresh reminder of why they are fed up with washington politics. during yet another hearing, on the irs targeting of conservative and tea party groups. chairman of the house oversight committee darrell issa grilled lois lerner for 11 straight minutes. lerner pled the fifth and then this happened. >> i have no expectation that miss lerner will cooperate with this committee and therefore i move to adjourn. >> i have a procedural question, mr. chairman. you cannot run a committee like

this, mr. chairman, you just cannot do this. we are better than that as a country. we are better than that as a committee. may i ask my question? may i state my statement? >> you're all free to leave. we are adjourned but the gentleman may ask his question. >> thank you very much. mr. chairman, i have one procedural question and it goes to trying to help you get the information by the way that you just asked. >> what is your question? >> no. let me say what i have to say. i've listened to you for the last 15 or 20 minutes. let me say what i have to say. >> miss lerner, you are released. you may leave. >> first, i would like to use my time to make some brief points. for the past year, the central republican accusation in this investigation -- >> we are adjourned. close it down. >> directed by one -- the white house. before our -- single document. >> thank you. ask your question. >> if you will sit down and allow me to ask a question! i am a member of the congress of the united states of america!

i am tired of this! i do have a question. >> with that, issa ended the hearing, walking out. while congressman cummings continued to talk into a silent mike. reporters caught up with issa after the hearing and he offered -- >> can i just say this? >> yes. >> shut it down, why would you say shut it down? >> because he was talking into a mike in an adjourned meeting. the fact is mr. cummings came to make a point of his objections to the process we have been going through. he was actually slandering at the moment that the mikes did go off by claiming that this had not been a real investigation. >> after she had established she was taking the fifth, you still asked several questions, yet you did not give your democratic colleague that same opportunity. >> he was not intending to ask her any questions and it had been determined. >> right. he didn't have the chance to ask any questions. >> mr. cummings said he had questions to ask. instead, he began making an opening statement.

even after the committee had been adjourned. therefore, the committee stands to adjourn. >> mika, can't you say shut it down, turn off his mike? >> i do and like elijah cummings who just keep talking, you just keep going. elijah actually was saying something i wanted to hear. oh! there he is! >> he is smiling. he looked so mean yesterday, willie. >> never. >> let me be clear. please do not shut my mike down. >> we will not. i will not shut joe's mike down because often he makes points that are valid. >> often? so elijah and i actually were on a committee together and actually the same position there. >> did that ever happen? >> it happened all the time except he was the one that shut my mike down. >> elijah, what happened? >> but joe and i got a lot done. >> we got a lot done. >> long-term there, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. >> what was the source of your frustration? >> went to olive garden and ate a lot. go ahead. >> what i was trying to do --

first of all, rule 11, and joe is very familiar with it. >> no, actually, i'm not. but go ahead. >> we have time, the minority should have an opportunity to express our views and ask our questions. but i was trying to actually help the chairman because he had -- he had asked some ten questions of miss lerner and she had decided she was going to take the fifth. and what i was trying to do was to get to allow the attorney to at least provide us with a proffer, that is, to tell us what his clients would have said if she were to testify. at least we would have gotten out some information that would not have binded the committee, nor would it have prevented us from pursuing a contempt citation against her. >> you had little insight, right? >> yes, we have a little mental

insight. >> miss lerner wouldn't have put herself in legal jeopardy and known what her argument would be. >> that's exactly right, joe. >> and find the weaknesses which we would do, that is our job. >> that's right. >> i don't know. it seemed like a bush league move to me. >> did you speak to congressman issa afterwards and how did he explain his behavior? >> i have not had a chance to do that. i just looked at the clip and it seems like chairman issa thinks he can read my mind and he forgets sometimes that, quite often, we are left, that is, democrats, in this committee are left out of the discussions with regard to deliberating and working with trying to get a proffer and those types of things, but he forgets i'm a lawyer and i've been practicing for over 20 years. so i'm used to doing these kinds of things. >> do you have a relationship with him personally off camera away from the committee? >> overall, it's a pretty good

relationship. >> yeah. yeah? cameras were rolling. bill, i mean, so we, obviously, in this instance we agree with darrell issa and what irs and lois lerner did was wrong but he didn't. in this case, i mean, it's short side. >> short sided. we shouldn't be talking about darrell issa cutting off congressman cummings. it's not a trivial thing that a senior irs official takes the fifth. it might suggest that something was wrong at the irs and that will ultimately be the important story and i assumes representatives and issa and cummings will work out their problems. it happens. >> we have got to get to the truth and we will get to the truth. and that is basically all i was trying to do, joe, and it's very unfortunate. >> so tell me. you certainly have concerns, don't you, with a senior irs

official pleading the fifth. >> no doubt about it. >> you have concerns, right? >> i do have concerns. as a matter of fact, i've been pushing hard to try -- that is one of the reasons why i was get my question out so we could at least begin to get information from her. now, on the other hand, joe, she took the fifth and then with a party line vote, the republicans decided that because she made a statement generally denying the allegations, that she had waved her rights with regard to the fifth amendment. well, you know, i think we have to be very careful with people's rights and i don't care who it is. tea party or conservative, republican, democrat. everybody's rights need to be protected and i think that we need to do that. and we had legal basis to say it was -- that they were not upholding her rights. >> t.j., shut it down.

shut it down. cut his mike off! >> good luck with this and please comeback and talk about other things that you're trying to get done in washington. thank you so much. >> we have a lot to do. thank you very much. >> bill is exactly right. this is a very big issue. what the irs did, every american should be concerned about, whether the republican, democrat, conservative or liberal. when you can be targeted because of your beliefs, because of your political believes and then you have an irs official who has changed her story publicly a different times and goes on and pleads the fifth in front of the committee? that is a concern and darrell issa got in the way of that yesterday by acting the way he did. it's unfortunate. >> we should note we invited congressman darrell issa on the show this morning but he was unavailable so we hope he'll be on the show soon. bill, will you stay? >> if you so choose. i am your slave here.

>> seriously. >> amazing school because of his daughter. former senator jim demint is coming up. all americans are united behind the common goal. >> thank god. >> one silicon valley entrepreneur ben horowitz will join us also. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. [ male announcer ] this is karen and jeremiah. they don't know it yet, but they're gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some financial folks who will talk to them about preparing early for retirement

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♪ here with us now from capitol hill, former republican senator from south carolina, president and ceo of the heritage foundation, jim demint. is out with a new book "falling in love with america again." and it's a pleasure to have you on the show. >> great to have you. first day of cpac. let's talk about your book. why did you write it and what is the bottom line? >> joe, it's good to see you. sorry i missed you when i was in new york this week. but we are all blessed to be americans, but a lot of us are

concerned about the direction of the country, regardless of political strifes. many will live lives worse off than their parents and the first time that has ever happened. a lot of us agree we are on a dangerous path but the good news is i believe we can turn it around. if we just remember what made america great in the first place. our strength comes from the ground up. not the top down. we are made up of small platoons as we talk about in the book of individuals and families and things that really happen and work in the community. >> talk about that. again, one of the great challenges for small government conservatives is distilling what you're talking about here, you don't have top/down solutions. you don't have what i call trickle down liberalism working in d.c. you hope if you tax enough the results will trickle

down to americans. what are platoon-based solutions? give us some specifics. >> the book is full of them. i'll talk about school choice for a minute. one is virginia ford whose child was falling behind in a public school but got a d.c. scholarship and turned things around and now she is advocating for school choice around the country. we have folks like juan and james who have acknowledged school choices is a good idea. this gives kids more opportunity and it's primarily helping poor minority children all over the country, but it's a fight with the big's and i contrast in the book. a big teachers unions don't like it and they are pressuring the new mayor of new york to throw successful schools out of empty public buildings. so it continues to be a fight but we have had enough evidence over several decades that the centralized approach to education doesn't work. >> no doubt about it.

bill kristol, we spend more money and talking with eva moscowitz yesterday. we spend more money per student than any other nation on the planet. yet, it takes thinkers like eva and others that are pushing the boundaries to make a difference. >> mayor de blasio is shutting them down. i was struck and here two or three days and doing various things along the uproar here. i think among people who really care about the poor kids and andrew cuomo, the governor of new york, who seems to be on the side of the kids and eva against mayor de blasio. you could say partisanship everywhere. there could be bipartisanship

attempt to save the kids. de blasio is shutting it down without a pretext of argument. so, jim, have eva moscowwitz. >> big ten. >> senator, cpac today, obviously. you're in this great 10,000 foot above position to watch and comment. you clearly have the republicans in the same conundrum they have been in for years they have to play to the base and you have the ted cruz and marco rubio and ryans and they keep smashing their heads against the wall. what do you say to the true conservatives, how do they play to their base and skill win the philadelphia and outside suburbs of washington, d.c. the places you need to win in a general election. >>? the only election the republicans have won in over a

decade is when they ran on conservative ideas based on the tea party grassroots effort in 2010. we can unite the country around conservative ideas. part of what i do in the book is help people see that these ideas will make their life better. they are not political theories. we have got evidence all over the country that they are working. we also have evidence that the big top/down approach only helps the big guys, the big banks, the big unions. and anyone who tells you big government helps the little guy is, frankly, not telling the truth. so i believe we can unite not just the republican party, that's not my job but i think we can unite the real american people around a core set of ideas and the politics will follow. >> bill kristol and i believe as well that most conservatives, i'll talking conservatives, not washington, d.c. status, but most conservatives agree on domestic policies. 99%, 95% but it's actually foreign policy that is the most

fascinating debate in 2016. where do you stand in this book about strengthening the military where you have to balance when do engage u.s. troops and when not to engage u.s. troops? >> joe, that's a great question. there are really three areas that we have to work on if we want a successful country and opportunity for everyone. you have to have a strong economy, a strong society, and a strong america. we definitely talk about the importance of american strength from a military side but we also talk about the importance of focus. i think this is where you pull the country together, you pull conservatives together. we don't want to be meddling loverl tall over the world but we have to have the strength and perception of strength to keep players like putin at least thinking that he has got some restraints.

>> former senator jim de mint, thank you. >> great seeing you, jim, as always. >> the book is "falling in love with america." you can read an excerpt from our site at msnbc.com. >> feel free to go on a bit longer. >> we roll that word great around too much. >> only say that when we say about conservatives. we have one conservative on every six months. >> so you have to say great? >> no. we have a dog that wins the westminster dog show and call it great, you're fine with that and call a conservative great and you're melting down over there in your armani suit and your new glasses. >> i like bill. i respect bill. >> have you met his daughter? >> she is great. >> exactly. so by, you know, relationship, he's great. >> by the way, congratulations on both of you for not bringing up the duke horn story.

i'm very proud of you. >> what? >> we had to tease you. coming up, ben horowitz will join us on set with some hard truths about running a company in silicon valley. keep it here on "morning joe." no two people have the same financial goals. pnc investments works with you to understand yours and helps plan for your retirement. talk to a pnc investments financial advisor today. ♪

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here with us now cofounder and general partner of the venture firm an dreeson horowitz. a giant in silicon valeriley. ben horowitz is how with "the hard thing about hard things." he is on the cover of "fortune" magazine which reads in part this. horowitz is not the typical ceo whisperer who advises entrepreneurs on trends strategy or business school wisdom. they call on him when they have

to fire a friend or make unpopular decision or when they realize their plans are getting clobbered in the market. did marisa mayer call you about that e-mail coming into work? >> in marisa's defense it wasn't just about coming into work. >> i totally defend her on that. it was about collaborating and interacting? >> a lot of people were working from home and she went and she checked to see if they were actually logging in and they weren't. >> you see, that totally got misunderstood. >> yes. >> i also know that the stuff we do to develop this show involves being together and interacting and ideas forming. i think when you have a lot of people working at home, it can be difficult. tell us, first of all, about the book. >> the book is a book i wrote just because through my experience as ceo and the trouble that i had is i read almost every business book because i needed all of the help i could get but they were all about here are the things that

you can do to not screw up your company. but what do you do once your company is already screwed up? then there is nothing there. if you run a company, you always screw it up. >> you saw a marketing opportunity in the concept. >> an opening. >> one of the themes here and it's something -- i run a company also, is honesty. even when you're firing an employee, people want to know. >> that's right. >> i think you hit on a really good point. learning how to be honest is a very difficult thing when you're a ceo because honesty means saying things that people don't like. and in life, you just don't do that that often. you don't just criticize team. you don't fire people. when you become ceo you have to learn how to do that and learn how to be honest in the context. >> how do you do it? >> well, most people learn the hard way. you know? you do it wrong a few times and

then you realize you're going to kill -- as ceo, you kind of kill all communication if people don't trust you because trust and communication are sort of the same thing. if i trust you completely, then you barely have to even talk to me because i trust you and i know that you're acting in my best interests. if i trust you not at all you can talk to me all day long and i'm not going to hear it. as ceo, you've got to have trust with the company and so, you know, over time, i think you have to build an understanding of that. you kind of have to learn how to have the hard conversation or tell people what they don't want to hear. >> another way to do it you're not doing somebody a favor by not doing that. if somebody is not in the right john job for them you are actually prolonging unhappiness for them. >> how do you say it? when it's hard to hear or it can be incriminating to your company. if you're making cuts because you have to and you have to make tough choices. >> those are two different

things. you're firing an executive, they are not effective. the first thing you have to realize when you hire that person it's very unlikely you're firing them because they were lazy and not doing their job or they were inconfident. generally you can figure that out in the interview. these people are high paid and you do a lot of reference checking and you have hours of interviewing. you know if they have the competency. generally why they fail is they don't fit in your environment like they don't fit in the culture, they don't fit in the stage the company is at, they don't fit in the market the company is in. >> do you say the truth, you don't fit in this environment? >> exactly. you say, look. we are not going to go scorch earth about you out here. we are not going to, like, i will support you in your next job and a lot of context i think you would be very good, but here we made a mistake. we brought you in and put you in the wrong slot. the longer you stay here, the

worst your reputation is going to become because you're failing. >> i think you're giving us the g version how that would be done. the book includes apparently a lot of f-bombs both wall street style and you have a lot of -- >> not quite wall street style. >> maybe we are embellishing a little bit. you're talking about using your love for rappers is also demonstrated throughout the book. >> yes. >> kanye, jay-z, why? >> i found when you get into these conversations is part of it is logical. you know, part of it is, you know, i -- here's why i can't answer that question about you wanting to have that other person's territory or here is why i can't give you a raise. like some of that is logical but then there is another part that is emotional. and it's hard because they are difficult conversations, if you just have the logic and you don't feel it, it's hard to get to it. because rap music, a lot of is

about entrepreneurship. there are a lot of very good emotional lessons in there that connect to what i'm writing about. >> well, this is hard. but then again, the book is "the hard thing about hard things." ben horowitz, thank you so much. >> thank you. up next, now i know what is going to be said the next time because it wasn't said -- well, anyhow. 12 years after tragedy struck lower manhattan, "time" magazine has some exclusive images from one world trade center. we will be right back.

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there were a number of trials and tribulations that we encountered along the way and

the process that ensued led us to create something that was much bigger than we had originally conceived. >> the end result? the end result of that project? this breath taking photo on the cover of this week's special issue of "time." top of america. the inside story of building one world trade center. joining us now the managing editor of time, nancy gibbs. what an incredible cover you have. >> what a feed. jonathan woods did quite and intrepid photo editor. >> good lord. >> firefighter and rock climbing instructor up to the top of that talker. and it's an extraordinary image of an extraordinary -- from an extraordinary building. if you go on time.com you can zoom in and out. you can check and see fountain flowers on your doorstep are blooming. >> really? oh, my gosh. >> whose idea was that? and is the photographer okay?

was it his idea? >> it was his idea and when he was covering one of the 9/11 anniversaries and was amazed that this building was finally built, wouldn't it be incredible to take a picture from up there which involved as you might imagine many months of negotiation with the port authority. no journalists have been allowed up there. the iron workers, we have a film and we tell the story of the iron workers who built that talker, many of whom were on the pile on 9/11 helping with the recovery work and now finally to see this, this building finished. >> that's got to be restored some way. thomas? >> it's absolutely amazing. the interactive part of it, why make it interactive? why take the photo glorious end of itself but why make it interactive on the website? >> what is spectacular is what technology lets us do with our

story telling. jonathan had an idea you see the boom which he welded to design this boom that would take pictures 360 degrees all around the manhattan. so you stitch those together and that is how you get this panoramic image. it is just a view of this city from this iconic place. this is now the tallest building in the western hemisphere. this is such a symbol of hope and resilience and energy miracles when you think what was involved in getting that building built. >> it's a story of struggle. what do you reveal in the back story of where we are today? because some people would criticize to say it's taken us too long to get where we are. >> i think what a lot of us didn't appreciate, i know i didn't as a lifelong new yorker what is involved in building the tallest building in the country in one of the most congested pieces of real estate we have? so you have major transportation arteries under there.

they had to build 20 stories down before they could even start building up. they had to pour as much concrete as it would take to pave a sidewalk from here to sidewalk. as an engineering feat to make it secure and strong and to work around digging by hand because you couldn't disrupt the transportation arteries and path trains. it is just an -- >> what is interesting, we were looking to move our office at one point and, you know, you stop and pause. you want to be a part of that building but then you also say, wow, is it still a target? what have at the thu they put i? what are some of the safety things they have put in place? >> it is set further back from the street than the original world trade center was. the glass cladding of the building at street level is kind of a glass proof pl.

the beams were welded and came from luxumburg and this was supplied all over the world to have the strongest material and instruction. step of the way. >> sure. >> so if you think of the security factors, the political ones, the neighborhood concerns about what the building would be, the concerns of the survivor families, the duelling architects, it's kind of a miracle it got built at all. >> mika, what are your thoughts, obviously, were you down there the morning of september 11, 2001, and down there for the next two weeks at an extraordinary impact. tell me, what are your thoughts as you see this building rise? >> well, when i look at this incredible photo, the then i looked at is the hole in the ground, and the work that needs to be done below, and the memorial. i will always go back to those moments. but this is beautiful.

an incredible look at our history as it evolves out of one of the biggest tragedies i hope to have ever witnessed in a lifetime. >> miracle in the skyline. >> it's incredible. >> we also have on the site, we have a documentary film about the ironworkers who built it. and their stories are -- >> incredible. >> -- incredible. many are second and third generation. miraculously, there were no fatalities in the construction of this building, which when you think about what's involved in being that high, the winds up there -- remember, hurricane sandy sent, you know, tens of thousands of gallons of water pouring into the site. >> yeah. >> in the summer, you can fry an egg on one of those beams. >> yeah. >> so the challenge of building this was really incredible. >> more than you can ever imagine. the new issue of "time" is the "top of america: the inside story of world trade center." nancy gibbs, thank you so much.

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♪ good morning, it's 8:00 on the east coast. 5:00 a.m. on the west coast, as you take a live look at new york city. back with us on set we have donny deutsch, harold ford jr., and in washington, ron fornier.

how is everybody? what is that? >> a dog tattoo. >> i love, it's just -- margaret, had this quote, two prisoners in a bar, one saw mud, the other stars. isn't it true, perspective? so "the daily news" a great headline. i'm looking at this. i'm, like, look at that headline. "mayor stole our dreams," and donny said you're looking at the wrong headline. "duke's porn star." >> stop. >> empowered. >> don't say that. >> empowered young woman. all kidding -- i'm being completely serious. >> no, no, no, no. >> not if you're calling porn power -- >> that's what she's doing, that's her choice. i'm serious. >> today, republicans kick off their annual cpac meeting, mika,

it's like a who's who -- >> yes, including senator ted cruz who kicks it off at 9:00 a.m., followed by paul ryan, chris christie and marco rubio. christie was denied an invite to speak at last year's conference, so this will be interesting today. meanwhile, a new "washington post"/abc news poll shows republicans may have a steep climb to unseat hillary clinton as the favorite in 2016. when asked about voting for each candidate, hillary clinton was by far the most favored with 66% saying they'd either definitely vote or consider voting for her. beyond hillary, it's anybody's game with marco rubio, rand paul, and chris christie each getting similar results. on the low end of the poll, nearly 50% of americans said they definitely would not vote for jeb bush, but it's breaking down among only republican voters. jeb bush has the most support with a combined 76%, saying they would definitely vote, or consider voting for him.

chris christie has the highest negatives with 30% of all republicans, saying they definitely would not vote for him. and now, it seems jeb bush's mother, barbara -- >> yeah? >> -- she might be warming up to the possibility of another bush in the white house. >> really? i think somebody's talked to her. >> i think they've had some family meetings. >> i think 41 said, come on, barbara. >> at an interview at her home in houston, the former first lady said maybe it's okay if he decides to run in 2016. >> it just seemed to me ridiculous in a country this size that we didn't have other families. i mean, we got great governors and other people. i just don't understand it. and maybe jeb's given all he should give. because he worked awfully hard for a long time. but he is the best qualified person in the country. there's no question about that. >> okay. well, that's great. she's tough. willie, you're not saying much -- >> we sold her as she's done a big 180 on the set, and the

whole sound bite was why it shouldn't happen, but he's very well qualified. >> best qualified. >> doing 180s? why should see? she's amazing. >> we have a lot to get to. did you see the fireworks on capitol hill yesterday? >> yeah, crazy stuff. >> what happened? but first, democrats -- >> a breakdown. >> what's that? >> a little bit of a breakdown. >> a massive breakdown. we'll get to that. democrats are rolling on a major campaign push to link republican candidates to the koch brothers. >> this is all they have? wow. >> not a stupid move, though. >> it is an idiotic move. >> i don't agree. let's hear about it. >> before the fireworks on capitol hill, we're going to have fireworks here on the set, i believe. as "the new york times" reports, the online ads aimed to paint the billionaire brothers as villains, and the candidates as complicit in costing american

workers their jobs. the slogan, the gop is addicted to koch. senator harry reid previewed the attacks with a set of remarks saying the brothers were against everything that is good for america and -- >> hold on. >> -- trying to buy the country. >> let's just stop right there. >> but there's some balance here. >> harry reid -- >> okay, do that. >> democrats have their own big spenders, including steyer. just a note, according to his website, david koch has contributed $1 billion since the year 2000 on issues like cancer research, educational initiatives, and cultural institutions. of course, there's the -- >> wait, wait, wait. so just leaving politics aside, willie, when harry reid calls david koch un-american, because he's doing what democrats like

george storos have done for years, which is fine, it's overlooking what he has done for this city, for cancer research, for the arts. could you tell people don't just live and breathe politics what this quote un-american man has done in new york city alone? >> well, i mean, we're talking about two separate things. politics they do in their lives, and they give money more than anyone. you see koch on buildings around the schools, lincoln center. >> the lincoln center, just thank the kochs for the show you're seeing and the art that the city has. i'm just saying -- >> a counterpoint? a counterpoint to that? >> first, since they've been called un-american -- un-american by the top democrat? let's first tell the truth about them and what they do and put perfespective in it. if we're talking about how much they give, these, quote, villains, it's unbelievable what they've done for cancer

research, for arts, for education. i'm sorry, go ahead. >> i was going to say, i'm not here to defend the koch brothers, but i would say for the senate majority leader of the united states to say the republicans are addicted to koch, it seems a little beneath the office. >> and also to say that the koch brothers are against everything that is good with america, about america, and calling them, quote, un-american, that by definition is mccarthyism. to say they are un-american. >> it was out of line. i agree with willie. there's no need for that kind of vitriol. i take it on when the republicans say those kinds of things about democrats. and the koch brothers, i don't share their political agenda. >> exactly. >> at the same time, they have the right to spend their money as they choose, and i have the right to counter that with positive, strong, political message -- >> donny. [ overlapping speakers ] >> -- call un-american is

incorrect. i'm not making personal judgments. they're philanthropic people, and that's wonderful. what i am saying is strategically, in a divided country right now, you see what happened in the new york mayoral race, haves and have notes, to have a slogan, somehow suggest -- not to say the democrats don't do that, but there is this big money, this wealth -- gop addicted -- that's who's driving the elections is not a bad strategic move. >> you do understand -- >> i'm separating a political move -- i'm not saying -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> -- 2008 and 2012, barack obama received more big money from wall street than any candidate in the history of american politics. you just do. you understand that it's a misleading ad campaign and call them un-american is despicable, because americans are addicted to koch is despicable, all of that aside, you understand this is misleading ad coming from the

dp democratic party, who has received more money from big business -- >> it's not misleading to say koch brothers are financing a lot of political agendas, and to suggest that to a populous -- that's not to say the democrats don't do it. >> i just don't like the language. >> harold, let's talk about what the koch brothers are talking about right now. it's obamacare. and so, when harry reid says that americans are -- it's un-american and they're this, that, and the other, actually the majority of americans are with the koch brothers on this issue, that they're driving home in 2014. the majority of americans agree with charles and david koch on the issue of their ads. >> look -- >> on obamacare. they're like the koch brothers, so they're un-american for being with the majority of the americans? >> the president is not aligned with the koch brothers, but you

see this morning that there's an announcement they'll suspend -- they'll allow insurance companies continue to provide the insurance coverage you enjoy today through 2016. parts of it. i'm not saying the president agrees with the koch brothers, but they have the right to say whatever they want. i don't like the name-calling and vitriol, and to willie's point, it seems beneath politics and beneath the office to refer to people -- >> ask one question around the table. just answer this question. is the koch brothers spending $1 billion on political advertising in the last 15 years good for democracy? >> let's ask ron. >> it doesn't make them un-american. >> wait a second, is it good for america? >> is it good for a democracy? >> well, let me ask you this, put it in perspective -- well, i'll ask ron. let's bring in ron. >> please. >> i remember bob kerrey saying in 2008 that any democrat that ever talked about campaign finance reform again while

wallowing in the mountains of cash barack obama received, bob kerrey said they would forever be hypocrites because they never called it out. both sides do this, ron? they do it equally, except democrats do it better than republicans, and now they're whining about the koch brothers. >> so we agree that both sides are hypocritical. we agree that it's un-american to call somebody un-american. [ laughter ] let's talk about the real issue here. is it un-american to -- or is it unethical, is it wrong, is it corrupting to have all this money in politics? >> yes. >> well, i don't know -- you know, i don't know. it's a subtle issue. the supreme court has said money is a free speech. it's a pretty settled issue. let's get to the problem. if the money will be there, i don't have as much problem with the money the fact that it's not transparent. i don't know who's buying which elections and for what reasons. i've started a move from the mccain-feingold campaign finance

paradigm to maybe we should get to the idea of, okay, if you want to be the senator of tobacco, fine, as soon as you get the check, it immediately gets -- immediately gets posted on the internet. >> i agree with that. >> ron, i agree -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> ron, i agree with you 1,000%. i think everybody -- liberals, moderates, conservatives, radicals alike -- should give all the money they want to give. but, ron, i agree with you. make it transparent. the second that liberal billionaire gives $100 million, even to one senate candidate, hand the liberal the check, but immediately scan it, put it on the internet for all of us to see. so follow up on that, ron. and let's talk really quickly, because we have a lot to get to today, that then we're going to talk really quickly about another waiver on obamacare. >> i wanted to follow up on you. i think there's a new generation coming up, the millennials, this is the kind of ethic they'd be for, and the polls show it, too.

we just want to have -- i'm not a millennial, obviously, but they'd want to say, we want transparency, the powers and new tools we have to be more involved in the politics. why not be able to see where this money is coming from? it can be done immediately. >> really quickly, 15, 20 seconds -- >> no, actually, it won't be 15, 20 seconds. >> no, quickly. >> yet another obamacare waiver -- >> you can keep playing. >> ron, tell us about it. >> well, i'm starting to wonder why the republicans are wasting so much time slowing trying to dismantle obamacare. maybe the white house will do it for them. >> okay, there's your 20 seconds. >> there you go, mika. well, really, if you're going to implement this thing, get it done and do it right. let's quick undermining the people's faith in a bill they were kind of shaky because anyhow. >> we'll get it done and do it right and we won't worry about the republicans who literally want to kill it, repeal it, and try repeatedly to beat it down and run ads with lies about it. get it done and do it right,

because we're all working together so well on this. on this law of the land. >> i worry about it, as you know, i've got two grown daughters taking advantage of it. there's a lot of other americans who would like to take advantage of it, and they can't, if the administration doesn't -- doesn't get its act together and get it implemented. you're right, the other side is acting deplorably, but i'm tired of politics where we try to set ourselves up as the party that's not quite as bad as the other one. the democrats -- the democrats have got to get this done -- not just for this bill, but for the whole ethic of government can help you. >> so, mika, if you go to the front of buzzfeed today -- >> yeah. >> -- the buzzfeed, you'll see two naked people in bed. they don't show anything. it does grab your eye. >> mm-hmm. >> and it says 12 horrible places to fight with your significant other. i haven't opened this yet. i mean, it's just pure buzzfeed these lists. i'm sure number 11 and 12 would be in darrell issa's committee.

that would be -- >> oh, we actually want to do this? >> i was wondering, where is he going? >> i like that segue. >> this is kind of an interesting story, because a little kerfuffle happened on capitol hill. >> that's a good word. >> you don't hear it new, do you? >> get a load. >> i j uft hust had a kerfuffle with -- a kerfuffle with the show. you have to be careful. >> yesterday, many americans were given a fresh reminder of why they are fed up with washington politics, and during yet another hearing on the irs's targeting of conservative and tea party groups -- are they still having hearings about this? can you imagine? chairman of the house oversight committee darrell issa began by grilling irs official lois lerner -- what's the date today -- for 11 straight minutes. >> -- being targeted by conservative groups and wasn't fired by barack obama like chris christie fired people who -- >> that's the allegation.

>> yeah. >> for each question asked, lerner pleaded the fifth, you're right, refusing to cooperate. and then, things unravelled. >> i have no expectation that ms. lerner will cooperate with this committee, and, therefore, we -- >> chairman. chairman. chairman, i have a statement. i have a procedural question, mr. chairman. mr. chairman, you cannot run a committee like this. you just cannot do this. this is -- we're better than that as a country. we're better than that as a committee. may i ask my question? may i make my statement? >> you're all free to leave. we've adjourned, but the gentleman may ask his question. >> thank you very much. >> mr. chairman, i have one procedural question, and it goes to trying help you get the information by the way you just asked. >> what is your question? >> i'm going -- no, let me say what i have to say. i've listened to you for the last 15, 20 minutes. let me say what i have to say. i have one procedural question -- >> ms. lerner, you're released.

you may -- >> first, i'd like to use my time to make some brief points. for the past year, the central republican accusation in this investigation -- >> we're adjourned. close it down. >> -- delusions directed at the white house. before our committee does a single -- >> thank you. what's your question? >> if you will sit down and allow me to ask a question -- i am a member of a congress of the united states of america! i am tired of this! i do have a question. >> with that, issa ended the hearing, walking out while his democratic colleague, congressman cummings continued to talk into a silent mike. reporters caught up with issa after the hearing who offered this explanation. >> why would you say shut it down? >> because he was talking into a mike in an adjourned meeting. the fact is mr. cummings came to

make a point of his objections to the process we've been going through. he was actually slandering me at the moment that the mikes did go off, by claiming that this had not been a real investigation. >> after she had established that she was pleading the fifth, you still asked several questions and yet you did not give your democratic colleague that same opportunity. >> he was not intending to ask her any questions. it was -- >> he didn't even have the chance to ask -- >> mr. cummings said he had questions to ask. instead, he began by making an opening statement, even after the committee had been adjourned. therefore, the committee stands adjourned. >> i mean, talk about un-american. >> you know, that's a big black-eye for darrell issa. to just basically go off procedural things, and basically he buried the lead. the whole irs thing gets lost, and the republican party looking like a party of no. that was to me a pathetic display on issa's part. >> you wonder why people hate washington?

look at the clips played this morning. a democratic leader, harry reid, making cocaine puns, and then you have the republican leader of the house oversight committee shutting down a very respected democratic colleague who simply wanted to ask the question. >> and sick of the process. >> that's a great point. you're exactly right. while harry reid is going around calling guys that give millions and millions of dollars to hospitals and art institutions, he's sitting there with, what, an 8%, 9% approval rating in congress? for good reason. >> yeah. coming up on "morning joe," we'll check in with jim vandehei. >> he's great. today's political playbook. plus bestselling author james patterson has a plan to save book stores. first, here's bill karins with a check on the forecast. i didn't know you were still here, bill. >> of course, i am. yeah, the day we're done tormenting each other is the day we will stop. well, good morning, everyone.

the northeast, walk outside, breathe in that frigid air, and then say to yourself, it won't be like this again until january of 2015. so, in other words, this is it, folks. it is a frigid morning. wind chills in the negative teens. we went down to negative 8 last night in rochester, new york, the coldest march temperature you've ever recorded. as far as today goes, at least the sunshine gets us close to the 20s and 30s, and then warm it up toward the 40s this upcoming weekend. then we start to melt a little bit of the snow. the big weather story today, we have two storms, one in the gulf and one in the pacific northwest. we're getting drenched on i-5 from portland to seattle. look out in florida, you have thunderstorms heading your way. look at the lightning strikes. over the last hour, about 4,000 lightning strikes over the gulf. that has to sweep across the sunshine today. you may start with some sun, and then the storms will roll through. this time of year, we could even get a few isolated tornadoes in florida, too. so we'll watch you from miami, tampa, sarasota, to orlando, and

they the melbourne-st. lucie area. florida will probably have the worst weather in the kwountry, and that means the worst airport delays. start the rest of the country, waiting for the warm-up from the great lakes to areas like washington, d.c. i think mid-50s on saturday. all of the white stuff on the ground should be gone by the end of the weekend. you're watching "morning joe."

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♪ time now to take a look at

the morning papers. "usa today," the oscar pistorius murder trial is now in its fourth day as prosecutors start to question the olympian's kaerkt. -- character. a boxer who is friends with pistorius described an incident at a restaurant where he had allegedly fired a gun by accident. >> i didn't know what happened, how the gun went off, but he did apologize and say, "i'm so sorry, it was a mistake, are you okay, is everybody okay?" i do remember oscar saying please to darren, just say it was you. i don't want any attention around me. just say it was you. and then, once that was said, the people from the restaurant came to the table, and then that's when darren said it was him. >> the defense says the friend offered to take responsibility, and pistorius was not aware the gun had bullets in it. from our parade of papers, "the daytona beach news-journal," new details are emerging about a dramatic rescue in daytona beach after a pregnant mother drove her minivan into the ocean with her

three kids inside. witnesses rushed into the water on tuesday to save the children who ranged from 3 to 10 years old. one of the kids reportedly said their mom was trying to kill them. >> oh. >> the woman's sister called 911 before the incident amid fear that something was wrong, but cops said there was no cause to detain her. the children are in state custody. >> that's so sad. the "minneapolis star-tribune" one of the largest local coal producers in the country will pay $27.5 million in fines for violating water pollution permits in five states. alpha natural resources will also spend $200 million to prevent future toxic spills into the waterways. the government says the company is responsible for violating water pollution limits more than 6,000 times between 2006 and 2013, the largest water pollution fine ever imposed on a company. and from "the boston globe," facebook plans to crack down on

gun-related posts. the social media giant's going to prevent minors from viewing postings of gun sales. the company also plans to remove posts that don't require a background check or that cross state lines. >> my husband broke that story yesterday. >> oh, did he? >> yep. >> did he really? >> yes, he did. yes, he did. the "wall street journal," former new york city police commissioner ray kelly has a new gig. the longtime cop is moving to the private sector to advise commercial real estate firms on how to protect their interests from terrorism and crime. it's a huge job. he's hired by the company, cushman and wakefield, to set up clients with cyber security and guide them into protecting their buildings and data, and that company is setting up a whole risk management division that kelly is going to be heading up. since leaving the nypd, kelly has joined the council on foreign relations and delivered speeches across the country, but this is a big job at a really, really, really, really powerful

company. >> no doubt about it. "the san francisco chronicle" a second baby born with the aids virus appears to be cured. the child, born in california, had her infection put into remission following a drug treatment four hours after she was born. doctors are cautious to say she's 100% cured, bus she remains on aids medication. but a similar case was announced over a year ago in mississippi. that child also remains aids-free. "the los angeles times," the world health organization released new guidelines for eating sugar, cutting the old recommendations in half. the organization says only 5% of a person's daily calories should come from sugar. you have to really look into this as it pertains to you. that's 25 grams, or about 6 teaspoons per day. you think that sounds like a lot. by comparison, a single can of coke, look at this, has 36 grams of sugar. >> let me check that out. >> no, no, no. >> so what do you give up? i had some people -- >> think about that.

>> -- i should give up sugar for -- >> you just had your day right now. you can't have any more sugar. which means you can't have food, because most of the food you eat has sugar in it. >> it's great. >> we're really as a crossroads where the food we eat is laced with poison. >> should i give up something for lent? >> you should give up coke. >> i was thinking about giving up sugar, and then i decided, no, i'll give up heroin instead. can i have some of that? >> no. no, why don't you read about the s.a.t.s. >> because you think sugar is bad for you, boy, that heroin! whew. willie, what's going on? >> what's happening? how's the coca-cola over there? >> it tastes great, man. a what are you -- >> talk about un-american. >> oh, dear lord. >> tell me about the s.a.t.s. >> some angel had his wings clipped. >> a great american company. >> they are a great american -- graent atlantic company. >> a great company, by the way, if you look at what they're doing, they're really working to

try and create products that are better for you, because they're aware, too, of what we've learned. it's not like coke thought we'll ingest the sugar. they've been making it for decades. >> they're great americans, aren't they? >> i would like them to come on and talk about their initiatives. >> you know, willie, we've been talking about un-american charges, it seems to me there's one institution that you can level that charge against, and actually kind of be, you know, within -- >> what are you talking about? >> what? >> for politico. they're un-american -- >> in this case, the glove fits, joe. >> the glove fits. >> the tiger right here. >> it takes 808 years. >> we're talking about politico. let's go to the "playbook." president and ceo of politico, also capital of new york, and mr. jim vandehei, how do you answer to the charges of un-american at politico? >> there is nothing more american than politico. come on, you know that.

>> okay. jim vandehei, thank you. >> yeah. >> let's talk about cpac. it gets off the ground this morning. some big speakers lined up, including new jersey governor chris christie. everyone remembers he was snubbed last year. is this him sort of re-emerging after the scandle of the last couple of months? >> yeah, ted cruz and chris christie, two that we'll hear this time. can conservatives get fired up about christie? he's gone through one of the roughest periods in politics over the last couple of months. there's real questions about whether he can rebound. to rebound, he'll have to find support among conservatives. i think in some ways conservatives are probably more sympathetic to him now than before because the media has turned on chris christie, and i think for chris christie, he doesn't have as much leeway to take on conservatives in a conservative-filled auditorium. so my guess is he'll go hard. he'll talk about his areas where he's really conservative. he'll talk when other governors

who are having success with conservativism. but this is really his re-emergence moment. the other one to watch is ted cruz. the straw poll don't remember, who wins it, as far as who wins the presidency. it gives you a jolt of momentum. and ted cruz is the fan favorite. the conservatives love the guy. and i think if you had to bet who's going to win the straw poll, it will be him, not rand paul, who won it last time around, and it will deny to give momentum to the ted cruz wing of the republican party, which a lot of people think is not electable in a general election setting, but it's very popular in a primary setting. >> all right, jim, let's play a quick game, a quick answer. you look at the list of speakers today, starting this morning. which of those is most likely to become the republican nominee for president in 2016? there's cruz, paul ryan, chris christie, jindal, marco rubio? >> i think of that group, maybe paul ryan or rubio. i think at the end of the day, the republicans will have to find someone conservative enough

to satisfy the base but electable on a broad scale. i still think there's questions about whether rubio or ryan want it and whether someone from washington can win the nomination. if you work from the assumption that jeb bush probably doesn't run, and i work from the assumption that he won't run, i think they're on the part of the spectrum that would give republicans the best chance of winning with somebody who could satisfy the right. >> jim vandehei, thanks. coming up, a look at how today's markets will open. business before the bell is next. for over a decade

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♪ welcome back, everybody. 35 after the hour now. "business before the bell." cnbc's sarah eisen joins us. what are you watching so far? >> the resilience of the stock market, thomas, has been absolutely unbelievable. and here we are, every time we go higher here, we're in record high territory. for u.s. stocks. the question is, why? because some of the economic data have been mixed, including soft reports on manufacturing, on retail. and for now, traders are just blaming it on the weather. a big day will be tomorrow, because that's when we get the monthly jobs report. remember, we're coming off two very disappointing jobs reports because of the weather factor. tomorrow, expected to be the same. the question is, will the data turn positive once we get into springtime weather.

that's certainly what traders are hoping for, and betting on, because we are in record territory, as i said. it's unbelievable. >> speaking of data. let's talk more about the motivation about the changes behind the s.a.t. we love talking about this this morning before we got on the air. there is the business angle to it. it's not just about making the tests -- and i hate to use the word easier -- for students, but more accessible, which means more profits, right? >> yeah, more relevant. we're talking about a big industry when it comes to test prep. test prep industry is $1 billion industry, where you have big companies like caplan getting in, and they're expected to get some benefits from the changes. more students will need to take the classes and enroll in the classes. you also have the sort of competitive angle here going between the s.a.t., the college board, which is a nonprofit, and the a.c.t., which for the first time in 2012 actually surpassed the s.a.t. in terms of the amount of students taking it. very popular in the middle of america.

i actually took the s.a.t., and i'm kind of happy we're back to the 1,600 score. it's more familiar. >> i was going to give you the 2,400 kind of girl, because those are people after 2005 -- >> no, those are babies. >> you're kind of my people, the 1,600. all right. thanks much. >> thank you. with 295 million copies of his book sold worldwide, there he is, the author james patterson, tackling literacy in america. he joins us next on "morning joe." [ male announcer ] this is joe woods' first day of work. and his new boss told him two things -- cook what you love, and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, and he'll set money aside from his first day of work

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♪ ♪ joining us now on set, an author who's had 19 consecutive "the new york times" bestsellers, james patterson. james is currently fighting to

keep the doors open for book stores across the country. in september, he announced a grant program donating $1 million of his own money to save local book sellers. james, great to have you here, because you're probably on most everybody's nightstands and in everybody's bedrooms around the country right now, with one of your books -- >> people still tell you, you ruined our honeymoon. [ laughter ] you might have married the wrong person. >> right. >> reading my book on the honeymoon. >> talk about the idea you have, ever-changing world, what it means to buy a book. why do you want to make this donation? >> we're making it. we announced the first 55 sto s stores. and anybody that's listening, if you have stores that you think are terrific independents, you know, just let us know, james% patterson.com. all they have to do is give us a half page on what they want to do with the money. if it's a viable store, if they have a children's section, we're there. you know, it's bigger than -- one of the booksellers i think said it very nicely, said this

is great you're helping our store. but from his point of view, it's more important shining a light on the situation. and the situation right now is that bookstores as we know them, it's all changing and changing too quickly. and that can be said for the libraries, as we know them, all changing in a big, bad way, publishers are being threatened to a certain extent. american literature is being threatened, because if we don't have good publishers, who will find infinite jest and "to kill a mockingbird," et cetera, so all i'm trying to do is shine a light on the situation and help bookstores at the same time. >> well, you're doing it, and you should be commended for doing it. i have a bookstore for you, the concorde and massachusetts bookstore. >> i lived in lexington. >> terrific children's book section in that store. but the larger element that you just addressed. the fact that books, literature,

american literature, world literature is imperilled because of the economics of book publish,ing today. >> yeah. >> where do you see it going? >> well, i mean, hopefully we'll have -- and we'll have strong public -- i mean, ultimately, more will be on the internet, and that's okay once we've made the evolution. it's all happened so quickly and nobody's thinking about the consequences -- i shouldn't say nobody is thinking -- certainly the government isn't. you know, there's -- there's not big money here. so the banks are in trouble, big money, boom, in comes the government. automobiles are in trouble, boom, in comes the government. books, yeah, who cares? if you go to italy, france, germany, they protect books and publishing over there. the government really protects and it doesn't have to be big government. it can be state government, local government. but let's be aware that these big changes are happening and what can we do. >> james, i commend the effort. my question, however, equated to newspapers, and, mike, you can

relate to this, is the money best spent to protect the newspaper itself or to protect the notion that people need to get credible news content, understand, like it or not, the world is going digital, and would we be better -- once again, god bless you for what you're doing -- would we be better marshalling our resources to protect it -- not the distribution system but -- >> i want to protect the transition. and -- and -- and the people who are publishing and finding the books, because that is -- i don't think you can get away from that. you can't get away from editors. to this point, what has the internet found, "fifty shades of gray" or whatever, and they're okay, but nobody is setting other than publishers to really find the 50 great books of this year, or 20 great books, or whatever. and that's the bigger -- the biggest issue.

>> plus, in communities. we have to have somebody -- we have to have somebody connecting with the schools, you know? now, that will change, i'm sure, but right now, i think it's a good thing to do. because we're -- this is a very fast transition. this is happening, you know -- and we're not talking about, you know, which phone company is going to be the next big phone company. this is, i think, a bigger deal than that. >> when i was growing up, lincoln had just died -- [ laughter ] >> sad times. >> -- yeah. but the library, when i was growing up, was the ultimate travel agency. you could go anywhere in the world with a book in your hand. >> yeah. >> in the library. and now, libraries largely thankfully are computerized. what do we do -- can we do anything, do you think, to increase the popularity and the population within libraries? >> well, i think -- a lot of libraries are doing a pretty good job. they're offering a lot of services for kids, for older

people, or whatever. so they're bringing people in. if a library is kind of with it, they can do a pretty -- if they have some funding. and there's always -- there's always volunteers available in libraries if they'll reach out. part of it is getting people to reach out. it's not -- it's not easy being green. it's not easy reaching out, you know, getting bookstores. i mean, this will help. bookstores will see this and go, you know, it's kind of easy, and we could use a little help. and the stores we helped, they range from, you know, andover bookstore, our dad hasn't had a raise since 1988. okay, fine. okay, we can do that. because a lot of it is psychological. >> i think to a person everyone applauds your philanthropy, but would you consider doing something on the commercial side where your books are available exclusively at independent bookstores, or the next book is released solely at independent bookstores, or there's a special edition -- >> i don't like -- you know, just common sense, to me, there are no villains here -- yet. okay?

there aren't any villains. the problem is there aren't any heroes yet. i'd like some heroes to step up. i won't be in a position where i say, if you buy your books through amazon, i'm going to, you know, at you -- >> you talk about shining a spotlight, maybe an early release or a special edition -- >> it gets everybody crazy, and they don't do it through wendy's uh, maybe. >> that's a good idea. >> i would advise against it. as your catalyst consummate hero. keep giving the money, but -- in order to be philanthropic, he needs to maintain -- >> if you publish 12 books a year, and one is just -- >> just one. >> nikole is going ultralive ral in front of our eyes. >> you talk to people in the book industry, and to a person no one denies you're a force. >> i don't think it would make a huge difference, and we have done and continue to do things -- we threw parties at

independents last year, which we're only at independents. so we do some things. the other thing is just legally what you can do. >> we love the idea of what you're starting, and this is a great conversation. thank you for joining us at the table. you can catch more with james in the afternoon. we'll be right back with much more. ♪ [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪

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. welcome back to "morning joe." new developments in the ukraine to talk about. the standoff there that's dominated the headlines. today, the house could vote on legislation to help prop up ukraine's fragile government with badly needed funding. lawmakers are eyeing potential sanctions to punish russia for its invasion. now, secretary of state john kerry meanwhile is pushing ahead on the diplomatic front, trying to get both countries to the table. however, moscow isn't giving any ground, refusing to recognize the new leadership in kiev and insisting that the armed groups in ukraine are there only for self-defense. and this tension, it was really on full display as the u.n. envoy was threatened by pro-russian gunmen in crimea and told to leave. the pentagon then is now stepping up its training for poland's air force, sending a half dozen fighter jets to the region. finally, an anchor on the u.s. network r.t., or "russia today"

quit her job on the air, accusing the kremlin-funded station of whitewashing president putin's actions. new details are emerging from the murder trial of oscar pistorius, his neighbor taking the stand today and testifying that he feared pistorius might take his own life moments after shooting his girlfriend through a bathroom door. in off-camera testimony, dr. johan step said he entered the home after hearing the gunshots. >> i was awakened by three loud bangs, and i remember my wife asking me, "what was that?" and i said, "i think it's gunshots." i heard screaming. it sounded like the voice of a female. she screamed three or four times. he said, i shot her. i thought she was a burglar. and i shot her. during that time, while i was trying to ascertain if she's

survivable, oscar is crying all the time. he prayed to god to please let her live, she must not die. >> pistorius' defense team argues the shooting was a tragic mistake. the man known as the bladerunner faces 25 years behind bars if he is found guilty, today being day four of his trial. up next, what, if anything, did we learn today? back after this. ♪ no two people have the same financial goals. pnc investments works with you to understand yours and helps plan for your retirement. talk to a pnc investments financial advisor today. ♪

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welcome back. it's time to talk when what we've learned today. mika, we talked about the koch brothers, and harry reid, saying incredibly intemperate things, but i think the story is the olive garden. >> really? >> yes, we want to thank david george, and he's given us a card which he passed along to donny, and donny will do it to do what he always does, pick up chicks. he uses his little children to pick up chicks, as you call them. >> and take them on a tour of italy. >> -- opened up my mind. i thought a townhouse. i thought things like that, thank you. giving me the real tool. >> mika, we'll get a buffet lined up here. and i'm going to show you the tour of italy. it's something. you have ever had the tour of italy in. >> i have not.

i've refrained from the olive garden tour. i learn "time" magazine, check it out, the interactive feature they have. >> ladies, here it is, olive garden. >> if it's way too early, joe? >> it's "morning joe." stick around. who do we have coming up next? >> kristen welker and "the daily rundown." see you tomorrow. thanks for your patience, good-bye. crimea and punishment, as diplomatic talks flounder. crimea's legislature overwhelmingly declares they want to break off from ukraine and join vladimir putin's russia. plus, there will be a ton to see this weekend as the invisible primary for 2016 get s under wa at the cpac. and total consciousness. a special senate visit this morning by the dalai lama for the opening prayer. we'll see it live this hour. and a very good morning to you from a very busy washington, d.c. it's thursday, march 6th, 2014. this is the "the daily rundown." i'm kristen welker in